The Big Reveal Part I

We have been working HARD. My body is tired, my brain is tired, and my bank account is spent. I spent most of my "free time" last week pulling up carpet, moving things into the garage and other rooms, painting, and purchasing laminate and underlayment. I was determined to do this all in an orderly fashion so my family wasn't walking on subfloor for weeks and weeks if this took longer than I thought it would. But it was still crazy chaos as my counters were taken over by books, music, tools, and whatever else needed to be up off of the floors. On Thursday night our friend Brian came over to help hang the TV on the wall -- the first step to the big rearrange. On Friday he came over again to help us get started on the floors. Saturday morning my friend Jeanette came and picked up all three kid (what a saint she is), and she dropped off her husband to help. Later my brother John showed up. We were in business. We got the front hallway, the kitchen, and the dining room area done that night. With the help of a neighbor we got the huge heavy hutch moved so we could start the other side of the house. We took Sunday off. On Monday I started the day by ripping up the last of the carpet (by myself, thankyouverymuch), pulling up the tacks, staples, and baseboards, and rolling out the underlayment. John came over at about 1:00 and the two of us got the bulk of the remaining work done. By the time Brian got home from work they just had the tricky fireplace pieces to do and the finishing touches.

We still need to put up baseboards and transition pieces. We started doing the transition pieces Monday night but we were all so spent mentally and physically that we thought we should take a little break from it. Besides, if you cross your eyes and look at the walls it LOOKS like there is baseboard there because that part of the wall is still white and the rest is painted. Hee hee!

Now I just have to put everything BACK. I have been holding off on posting pictures until things were more put together. But I am realizing that this is a marathon, and not a sprint. And despite wanting everything done NOW, time and money don't really allow for that. So allow me to introduce you to our "new" downstairs. At least two rooms of it.

The Family Room

When we first bought the house I was thrilled that we had a front room for the piano and nicer furniture, and a back room where we could put another couch and the TV. Since I teach piano lessons I wanted a place to do my thing that wouldn't interfere too much with the rest of the family. But as our family grew and we settled into the home I realized that that arrangement wasn't working any more. We didn't all fit on one couch to watch TV and the space was so small that we couldn't have anyone over to cheer for BYU football or play the Wii. So we moved the TV to the front room and found another place for the piano.

BEFORE

This room never got fully painted. I started with a golden yellow, but it ended up looking greenish in some light and so I stopped and never started again. The carpet in this room was in fairly good shape, but it was abysmal in the back of the house, so it all had to go. Those windows look out on the street. The entry to the house is on the other side of that little wall on the right. The wall in the third picture is the wall along the hallway that leads from the front door to the back part of the house and the kitchen. We joke that the color looked like baby poop. It looked great in some light and just gross in others.

AFTER

The walls are now a nice buttery cream color. The tape is still up there from painting. I guess I should take that down tonight. The first picture is standing by the front door, looking into the living room. On the "to do" list is a nice plush rug to go in here so we have a place to lay down and watch tv and wrestle with the kids. The next picture is taken from the hall, looking straight in. I am not sure if we are going to keep the shelves and cabinet on each side of the fireplace, but they are serving a good purpose right now, so until I know what to do, they are staying. Stacey is coming for dinner this weekend and you can be sure I will be asking for her advice.

This is standing in the corner by the fireplace, looking into the front hall. We have replaced the poop brown with one that looks like melted Hersheys bars. yum. The little bookshelf by the chair will be painted black at some point. It will also be organzied. Eventually. Brian is thrilled that he can not sit in the recliner and watch TV. Bring on the fall sports!

This is the "old" dining room. We bought a table and chair set several years ago for the dining room and it took up so much of the space that we could never actually EAT there. So I used it for my computer. And sewing. And to pile up junk. NOW it's my music room/office. One wall still needs to be painted -- I ran out of paint. And we will be moving the light into the other room over the table and replacing it with a light fixture that people won't bonk their heads on. I really think this may become my favorite room. I love having a desk for all my stuff that ISN'T the kitchen counter.

The black bookshelves on either side of the piano were the maple ones from the "before" pictures. I love having all of my music at arms reach. And now the top of my piano isn't piled high with all of the things I need for lessons. I am on the hunt for the "perfect" drapes for each room. I may end up just making them.

Next -- the kitchen and dining room.

And so it begins...

School Pictures

Yesterday (okay, it was two days ago, but Blogger was being difficult) was school picture day for my girls. We took the time Sunday night to blowdry Jillise's hair after her shower so it would look nice and smooth in the morning, outfits were carefully chosen and laid out. Joelle took a bath in the morning (one of the joys of afternoon kindergarten) and we dried and curled her hair so it would look just right. All so we can have these precious early years saved forever in the immortal school picture. Never mind that we never blowdry Jillise's hair -- she always goes to bed with it wet and then it dries in all sorts of strange ways while she sleeps. And that Joelle's hair is normally in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. I think we want to remember what COULD have been -- had we actually been on the ball ALL the time, instead of just on school picture day.

Thinking about school pictures made me want to dig up all of my old school pics. Whew -- not a pretty sight, I tell you. But since my blog could use a boost in entertainment value lately, here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Preschool

I was REALLY cute. My only memory from preschool was the large crinoline dress up skirt that I LOVED to play with. I think I even got pretty nasty if other girls tried to get to it first. Notice my awesome Winnie the Pooh jumper. Boy, those characters have staying power, don't they?

Kindergarten

My mom likes to tell the story about how on my first day of kindergarten I was so independent that I wouldn't even let her walk me into my classroom. I was still really cute. And I highly doubt my hair ever looked that good -- especially since it doesn't hold a curl well.

1st Grade

This picture was the topic of much discussion at my house growing up. If you look at my smile, it is a wall of gums. There are no teeth showing. No one (including myself) can replicate that look. I have no idea how (let alone WHY) I smiled that way.

2nd Grade

Look at this very cool yellow blouse. This style is popular again. Maybe not in yellow fabric with white polka dots, but the tuxedo style. I don't think that hair will ever be back in style though. Let's hope not.

3rd Grade

I this is where I start to look more like me as a grown up, and not like me as a kid. Well, me if I weighed next to nothing so you could see my jawbone and cheekbones again. Notice the curled hair. I probably slept in spongie rollers or something. We have alot of pictures around this time where I had slept in braids and had super wavy hair. The Okinawans were obsessed with our (mine and my sister Megan's) hair. It was long and blond and they were NOT afraid to just come up to us on the streets and run their fingers through it while chattering to their friends. Not the most comforting thing for a nine year old to experience.

4th Grade

Ah, the growing out of the bangs. This means we have also entered the age of the headgear AND
the reading glasses. And full on lerpy, teeth-to-big-for-your-face and growing too fast awkwardness. I used to try to "accidentally" leave my headgear at home. My mom was nice enough to bring it to school for me. I didn't stand a chance. It is impossible to look cool with wire coming out of your mouth, connected to a sweaty grayish blue strip of fabric behind your neck. Add the purplish blue 80s frame glasses and you have a WINNER. One reason I have for getting along with my parents is that they are the keeper of those pictures and I never want them leaked to the general public. Any strides I have made toward coolness in the past 24 years will be washed away with the posting of one little picture. Actually, I think it's a home movie. Even worse. Oh, and I don't know what happened to the individual school picture. Or why I am looking sideways in this. I am sad that they have gone to composite class pictures. I think you can see so much more personality in these large group shots. And for the record, this is also the age when I stopped doing homework and was grounded for AN ENTIRE MARKING PERIOD for bad grades. I was one of those "not living up to her potential" kids. And my mom's idea of grounding meant no TV or friends or phone. I spent alot of time in my room and practicing the piano. I think this is also the year that Rusty (I'm pretty sure he is the boy in the front row right in front of the girl in the green plaid) brought me various weeds and wildflowers wrapped in toilet paper and asked me to be his girlfriend. I wasn't flattered. I seem to also recall him riding his bike to my house. I was NOT interested. And on another note, notice the large class size. Larger than our classes today. And all my class pictures are like this. Granted - we were all military brats and if we screwed up they kicked us out of school. But still...

5th Grade

This looks like the braid waves making an appearance. And look, I was kind of tan. Just kinda. Let's see... in 5th grade I remember starting to like boys. Just not Rusty. I loved to ride my bike. I was in ballet and piano. I think this might have been the year we visited Korea as a family and even MORE old women approached me on the street to run their hands through my hair. And I do remember that shirt. And in the class picture I am wearing awesome pink jelly shoes. I am true child of the 80s.

6th Grade

Oh, man. This is the beginning of the end. I got my hair cut into this very stylish, feathered mullet, probably in protest of foreign women wanting to touch my head. I loved it. And sadly, this is not the worst style to adorn my head in the upcoming few years. We moved from Okinawa the middle of my 6th grade year. It was really hard. I moved from a little bubble of an airbase to a place where I was the racial minority in my classroom. I had been spared from having to be super fashion conscious in Okinawa because our shopping options were really limited. So when we got back to the states I was faced with the harsh reality that I was NOT cool. And to top it off, I got the hairstyle that you see up there PERMED. I was Little Orphan Annie. Who ever says reverse discrimination doesn't happen should visit the inner city schools in Southern Virginia. I just had a HORRIBLE rest of 6th grade. And from that point on, I just really wanted to wear whatever I needed to wear and look the way I thought I needed to look to fit in. This frustrated my parents to no end. I don't think they ever "got it." Clothes were clothes, a label means nothing. And there is a big part of me that got that. But another part of me thought that (bad hair aside) if I just wore a Limited t-shirt with the square label on the front, down at the bottom of the shirt (remember those? They had some funky person drawn or something??) that life would be peachy. I am still trying to figure out how I am going to deal with this with my kids. I don't ever want them to be picked on just because they have no fashion sense, but I don't want them to BECOME the teaser because everything comes so easily to them. I'm sure it's a fine line we will walk for the rest of their lives at home. So, yeah. That about sums up 6th grade. Oh, and I had a crush on a boy named Dana on my class in Okinawa. But some kid named Elliott had a crush on me. He was probably as cool in Okinawa as I was in Norfolk, VA. Which was not cool at ALL. Now is probably some super successful business man or doctor or something...

Sixth grade is also the year that we got new swings on the playground in Okinawa. They had these really long, thick red rope handles instead of the chains. You could twist those handles up by sitting or laying on the swing and turning around and around. Then you could let go and go for the ride of your life. We used to have contests at lunch to see who could get the most twists. A kid named Paul Hand (I should look him up on Facebook) was out to set the record. I don't even remember how many times he got that thing twisted. He was laying on his belly on the swing and he spun around forever before it came to rest. When he stood up, all the whites of his eyes had turned blood red. All of the spinning and pressure had burst all the blood vessels in his eyes. I think we all turned and ran at that point.

So, that's it! I can't find my junior high school pictures. But they ain't pretty. And those of you on Facebook have seen my high school pictures. If you aren't on Facebook yet, this may very well be your excuse to start. You don't want to miss those suckers...

Open Invitation

Anyone wanna come over and play next week? It'll be a party...

What I've Been Up To

We have been really busy. We are rearranging, repainting, reflooring, and rejuvinating our entire downstairs. Nothing will be left untouched -- except the bathroom. Stay tuned...

End of Day One

Jillise survived her first day of second grade. I don't know that I can say the same for myself. I am BEAT. I got up at 6:00 to put the failed sticky buns in the oven and shower. Got the kids up and ready and Jillise and Grayson were at school by 7:35 (school starts at 7:45 -- yes, you may feel sorry for us). Came home and put dinner in the crockpot, cleaned the kitchen, did laundry, hemmed soccer clothes, made beds, wrote a blog post, and tried to be productive. Then we did lunch and brought Jaren to Michelle's house so Joelle and I could go officially meet her teacher. Her teacher is fabulous. A wonderful, loving grandma woman who will be perfect for my little Joellie. By the time we got back we had 20 minutes before we turned around to pick up Jillise. We got home at 2:30.

At 3:00 my first piano student came. Had a total of four. Jillise left for soccer at 4:45 (again, Michelle saved the day). At 5:00 when I was done with piano I loaded up the other kids and dragged them to the soccer field. Jillise's practice was done at 6:00 - the same time Joelle's starts.

Brian met us at the field at 6:30 to bring Jillise and a very VERY crabby Jaren home. Now everyone is fed and in bed. And I need to clean up so we can start again tomorrow. Minus the soccer, though. Thank goodness.

Second Grade

Jillise is off. With very few tears, I might add. Just a few right when I woke her up. And to be honest, *I* felt like crying when my alarm went off that early, too.

Brian caught the late bus into work so he could be here to say goodbye this morning. It was nice to have us all up and together. I tried to make the yummy butterscotch rolls we had at our Relief Society retreat but they didn't turn out very well so the girls had frozen waffles. Oh, well.

I think we are in for a good year. Jillise has a few girlfriends in her class this year and she got a really good teacher. I think she is more excited than scared or nervous and she eagerly hopped out of the car and ran in with her friend Grayson at dropoff, so that is a REALLY good sign.

Joelle starts kindergarten this year, but she doesn't really get into the swing of things until next week. We go for a one on one "meet the teacher" today, then half of her class will go on Thursday, and the other half on Friday. Then on Monday everyone is there and the poor teacher starts thinking that early retirement is a great thing.

It is oddly quiet now. It is only 8:20 and I am showered and dressed and my kitchen is clean. Today I start my piano lesson schedule and both girls have soccer so the next thing on my to-do list is to get dinner in the crockpot. I am also on a sewing roll -- I hemmed five pairs of jeans yesterday for the girls and today I am altering soccer clothes so Joelle doesn't trip on the bottom of the pants and Jillise isn't constantly trying to keep her pants up while running. I'll have after school updates later!